Walmart apologizes for calling cops on kids as they sang "God Bless America"

Fire fighter John Manning delivers a wreath to Engine Company 10 across from Ground Zero in New York City on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Engine Company 10 lost six members that day.

Credit:

Spencer Platt

A group of young kids just wanted to sing at Walmart. Instead, they learned a sad lesson about capitalism. Kids from the Coconut Palm Elementary School in Florida had planned to sing "God Bless America" inside a Walmart store on September 11, CBS News reported. The performance was supposed to be a patriotic flashmob.

Except that when choir director Anna Conner showed up with her 75 students, the manager on duty refused to let the kids put on their performance, JDJournal reported. The manager described the kids as a "liability." But what about Frank, the nice Walmart manager who gave his permission last week to let the kids sing in the store? Frank just got fired, the new manager informed the kids.

Hoping that the children wouldn't be too disappointed, choir director Anna Conner instead moved the performance outside to the parking lot, Fox News reported. And that's when the store called the cops. Police at the scene said they were responding to reports of a "flash mob," perhaps unaware of what that word means.

Two days later, Walmart finally apologized for treating the youngsters like criminals, the Sun-Sentinel reported. "Unfortunately, this was a situation of miscommunication, and it should have been handled differently," a spokesman told the Sun-Sentinel. "We're also inviting the kids back to the store to help honor the victims and fallen heroes."

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